Software OR Hardware in Data Acquisition

[diegolujan]

Hello,

I'm developing a medical device which will measure the muscular force after it makes a contraccion. The input of my device is the variable resistance  (ΔR) of the strain gage that depends on the deformation of the strain gage. This input must be amplified and filtered with a low pass filter, and the output is just the variable voltage which is a function of the variable resistance. The output voltage can be placed in an equation to measure the force.

My knowledge about data acquisition is low; nevertheless, I know or I need a data acquisition software that can acquire and display the measurements of my device in real time.

So my question is; Do I need both the software and hardware of data acquisition to measure the muscular force after it makes a contraccion?; How does the software of data acquisition works (it will be good if someone can send me a pdf. with the details)?; Is there another possiblity to acquire and display the measurements in real time with a Software (or Hardware) other than the data acquisition?

Thanks,

[Dennis_Knutson · Accepted solution]

You need some sort of hardware to acquire the signal from the strain gage and convert it to something the pc can read. The 'data acquisition' device could be a DAQ card from NI or any number of other devices (i.e. DAQ cards from other vendors, GPIB, Ethernet, USB instruments, etc.). To control the device, analyze the data, display it, you will need some sort of software. This could  be an application program such as SignalExpress that comes with NI DAQ devices or a program you write with a language of your choice (LabVIEW, C, Visual Basic, etc.).

[diegolujan]

Thanks Dennis.